Clamming Fun

We went clamming for the first time and it was a lot of fun. We drove 1 hr 40 mins to NJ bay area to clam. The driving was well worth it. When it was still high tide which went in the water anyway. We used our feet to rub and dig down on the sand to feel the clams. Then reach down to grab it and place in plastic bags. We got so much clams that it took us 3 days to finish...and we gave most away to families too. We grilled the clams fresh at the bay area and it was so good with Texas Pete's hotter hot sauce. I fell in love with the hot sauce....lol. It was the perfect hot sauce for clams. Then at home I grill them again and ate that for a day. Still got so much left so I decided to make bun rieu (noodle soup) with them. I didn't really measure the ingredients so no recipe here. But it's the same way you make the regular bun rieu.

Sweet N' Spicy Lobsters

Shoprite lobsters are on sale. They had the 3-6 lbs average lobsters. These lobsters are the largest I've ever seen. I got two lobsters and one at 3.5 lb and the other smaller because they ran out of the large one. Both came to a total of over 5 lbs. I cleaned the lobsters and asked my husband to chop them in chunks. This is our first time cooking lobsters and his first time chopping lobsters. So we made a little mess...lol. I had to divide the lobsters in two since my wok is too small.





Ingredients:

5 lbs lobster
1 onion sliced
4 stalk scallions (sliced 2 inch long)
cornstarch
oil for frying


Sauce:

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
11 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp fish sauce
6-8 chillies
2 tbsp shrimp paste
1-2 tbsp XO sauce
400 ml water

Method:

1. Brush clean the lobster over running water to clean the shell. Chop lobsters in pieces and clean again. Divide the claw from the head and body. Larger sizes require more cook time.
2. Drain off water and coat the lobsters with cornstarch.
3. Heat enough oil for frying. Fry lobsters until 80% cook.
4. Mix all the sauce ingredients together and set aside.
6. Heat the wok with the XO sauce. Add in the shrimp paste. Stir for a second and add in the onion. Then add in the lobsters. Stir fry for a minute.
7. Add in the sweet n' spicy sauce and continue to stir fry. The sauce will become thick. Taste. Then add in the scallions and remove from heat.
8. Serve with rice.

White Fungus w/ Rock Sugar Dessert

White fungus is said to have similar medical value as bird nests. And it tastes pretty good with rock sugar, longan, and dried dates. I wanted to add eucheuma too but I will have to soak it for a day first. So I just cooked these four ingredients together and it's very good and it tastes very similar to bird nest. I cooked this a little longer so the soup got thicken a bit. This dessert is best eaten chilled and with a couple cubes of ice. So refreshing!



Ingredients:

50 grams white fungus (soak for 30+ minutes)
80 grams dried longan (soak 1+ hour)
70 grams dried dates (soak 1+ hour)
200 grams rock sugar
4 liters water

Method:

1. Cook soaked dried dates with water for about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Rinse the dried longan first to get rid of dirt and then soak with 2 cups of water. Save the clean part of the water to add into the soup later.
3. Clean the soaked white fungus and cut into small chunks. Remove the hard yellow center.
4. Boil the 4 liter water plus the clean longan water. Add in the white fungus. Bring to boil. Then add in the red dates and then on medium low heat to slow boil for 20 minutes.
5. Add in the longan meat and boil for another 10 minutes.
6. Add in the rock sugar to taste and cook for another 10 minutes.
7. Cool and then refrigerate. Serve chilled with ice.

Chicken Stir-fry Chinese Broccoli Tips (Kai Lan)

Another stir-fry idea to eat with rice for lunch or dinner. Very simple dish but tastes great! Adjust the taste seasoning to the amount of vegetable and meat.



Ingredients:

1-2 lbs Kai Lan Tips
1 cup chicken breast shredded
1 tbsp XO sauce (optional, use garlic to replace)
1-2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp fish sauce
1/4 cup water
1 tsp cornstarch + 3 tbsp water


Method:

1. Marinate chicken breast with 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp fish sauce, and 1 tsp oyster sauce. Marinate for 15 minutes.

2. Rinse kai lan well. Boil a pot of water enough to fit all kai lan in. Once the water is boiling, pour in kai lan. Wait for 1 minute and then drain kai lan. Rinse over cold water and drain.

3. Heat the wok and pour in XO sauce with some oil. Then add in the chicken to stir-fry. Stir until chicken is cooked.

4. Add in the kai lan and continue to stir-fry for couple (3-4) minutes until the kai lan is hot but not soft. Add in the water if the wok is dry. Add seasoning and taste.

5. Mix cornstarch with water and add to wok to thicken the sauce. Remove from heat.

6. Serve hot with rice.

Durian Sticky Rice in Coconut Milk

I bought a frozen durian today and it was so sweet and creamy. Durian is good by itself or with sticky rice. I learned to eat durian sticky rice in coconut milk from a frozen Thai dessert sold at the supermarket. It was so good I had to make some. :) This dessert taste best when hot. Leftover can be refrigerated and microwave later. Still tastes great after 2 days. :)



Ingredients:

2 cups glutinous rice soaked for 4 hrs
2 cups coconut milk
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Mix all the ingredients together and cook in ricer cooker. Stir the rice after rice cooked.

Durian in Coconut Milk:

2 cups durian pulps
3 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup water
2-3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Heat the coconut milk, water, sugar, salt. Pour in 3/4 of durian and cook for 4 minutes. Then pour in the rest and cook for 1 minutes. Taste and remove from stove. *Can use some cornstarch if sauce too soupy.

Serve hot durian coconut milk on top of sticky rice.

Place left over rice in individual containers and then durian coconut milk on top. Refrigerate the dessert and microwave hot to serve later.